Gold futures rebounded in Asia on Monday to recover more than what they had lost Friday as the U.S. dollar's weakness spurred buying in the precious metal. Gold futures for delivery in June climbed $15.70, or 1.1%, to $1,469.30 an ounce. The bounce comes after prices retreated $8.40 in a regular session on the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. The metal recorded gains of more than 4.2% last week, for its first advance in five. Spot prices of gold rose $6 to $1,468.90 an ounce. The Hong Kong traded units of SPDR Gold Trust exchange-traded fund rose 0.5%. The advance came as the dollar extended its fall in Asia on Monday, with the ICE dollar index — a measure of the greenback's performance against six major global currencies — sliding to 82.326 by mid-afternoon in Hong Kong, compared with 82.484 in North America late on Friday. A weaker dollar often helps support prices of commodities by making them cheaper for holders of other currencies. Meanwhile, analysts pointed to evidence of strong demand for physical gold, with an HSBC economist writing in a note to clients on Monday that India's “love affair" with gold was likely to boost the volume of the country's imports after the recent slump in prices. CNBC reported separately that HSBC late Friday cut its 2013 price forecast for gold to $1,542 an ounce from the previous target of $1,700. Elsewhere in the metals complex, May silver futures jumped 1.9% to $24.22 an ounce, while copper futures for delivery in the same month fell 0.4% to $3.17 a pound. July platinum futures added 0.7% to $1,486.50 an ounce, and June palladium futures fell 0.3% to $679.65 an ounce. Marketwatch
